A tough-fought, strategic game suddenly erupts with a series of
tactical blunders, leaving a lower-rated player the somewhat surprised
winner.

Looking through my older columns, I was surprised that so many of them
dealt with upsets. The reason for this, I guess, is twofold: a) upsets
are unexpected and thus exciting—for me and (I hope) for readers; b)
most games I receive (I realize now) are upsets, as those are much more
remarkable for the winners than a normal, or “expected” (playing down)
victory.

I predict, however that Mark Norris, the winner of this month’s award,
will soon add 400-500 rating points to his current 1074 USCF rating.

Not only did Mark prove himself equal to his 1508-rated opponent in all
stages of this long struggle, but he also provided quite impressive
(albeit laconic) annotations.
Writes Mark Norris:

This was one of the most interesting games I have had the pleasure of
playing at my chess club. It was quite the game and definitely had my
adrenaline pumping. Look for yourself. (As usual, Lev’s future
comments are in italics).

Both players handle the opening stage quite well. Even 4. e3 may not
deserve the “?!” sign. Of course, there were alternatives; for example,
8. ... b5 (or even 7. ... b5), to stop White’s c2-c4, or 8. ... Nbd7
preparing ... e6-e5. But the first eight moves (and even a few of those
following) could have been played by masters.

9. c4 c5 10. cxd5?!

True, an immediate d2-d4 (10. d4) was more accurate.

10. ... exd5 11. d4? c4! 12. Nc3 Nc6

After two dubious (?!) moves and one bad (?) one, the position
remains close to equal. Perhaps White’s transgressions were not that bad
after all. Black continued to develop.

13. Nb5 Bb4 14. a3 Ba5 15. Nd2 Bxd2!?

This may not be best.

Indeed, 15. ... Bxd2 is a reasonable move—but not the best, as
Black’s pawn structure in the center (pawns on c4 and d5) put an extra
premium on the dark-square bishop. Black has normal, good moves like 15.
... Bf5 or 15. ... Re8, but the strongest is, perhaps, 15. ... Na7, with
the goal of bringing the b-pawn to b5.

16. Qxd2 Ne4 17. Qe1 Qb6 18. a4 Bf5 19. f3?!

This is questionable. However, I did fear the pawn sac on e4.

19. f3 is a good move—which has nothing to do with the (highly
unlikely) e3-e4 thrust. But trickier—and thus stronger—was a
transposition, 19. Ba3 and only after the natural-looking 19. ...
Rfe8(?), 20. f3 Nf6 21. Nd6, forking Black’s rook and bishop.